The victory was the third time Inter have won the trophy, following their successes in 1964 and 1965, and could also have marked a winning farewell for coach Jose Mourinho. The Portuguese, who becomes only the third coach to win the European Cup with different clubs, has been the subject of intense speculation linking him with a summer move to Real Madrid. Mourinho left Porto for Chelsea soon after leading them to the 2004 Champions League title. For Bayern coach Louis Van Gaal, the defeat ended his chance to conquer Europe with two separate clubs having won the title with Ajax in 1995.
While Van Gaal's side dominated possession but with Mourinho's side, an attack is a precision weapon, not a scatter-gun, so when they break there is a brief sense of majesty and efficiency. Inter again enjoyed far less possession than their opponents (20 minutes and 39 seconds to 40 minutes and 12 seconds), and ended up having an even better game than the semi-final second leg against Barcelona.
It was, indeed, as much Jose Mourinho's triumph as Diego Milito's, whose sensational season can now continue with the World Cup. Milito was on the spotlight with his exquisite finishes either side of half-time. Both re-affirmed the value of patience and poise in a striker's armoury, and made a mockery of Diego Maradona's initial preference for Martín Palermo in the Argentina squad. Maradona was apparently seconds away from omitting Inter's hero before sense prevailed.Milito has been a talismanic figure this spring. He scored the winning goal in the Coppa Italia against Roma and 10 days later was on target again in Inter's 1-0 victory over Siena, which won them their 18th scudetto.
